‘Accusing Russia of hacking - revival of Cold War’

Accusations of hacking by Russia revives the fears of the Cold War era says National Front member Patricia Chagnon. It also serves to discredit the US election result and distract attention from mistakes that resulted in the election loss, she adds.

Donald Trump said a close relationship with President Putin would be good for America. However, seventeen current and former European officials wrote a letter to the US President-elect, warning him against mending ties with Moscow and saying that “it would be a grave mistake to end the current sanctions on Russia.”

The letter came at a time when France and Germany are voicing concerns that Russia could meddle in their upcoming elections.

RT asked Patricia Chagnon, a member of France’s National Front, what is behind the European fears of possible Russian hacker attacks. In her view, the accusations serve mainly to distract from domestic problems.

“By accusing Russia of hacking into computers, it seems to me like they are reviving old fears of the Cold War dating back to that time,” she said.

In Chagnon’s opinion, throwing accusations at Russia serves two purposes.

“The first benefit is that you don’t need to look at your own mistakes; you don’t need to find fault with yourself; you don’t need to address why maybe the elections didn’t turn out as the polls suggested, or why you didn’t do as well in the elections as foreseen, or as you thought,” she said. “Secondly, it also discredits the result of the election. It is also a good way to make your enemy look bad and say: “Oh, well, they actually won because they cheated.” So yes, I think people have an interest in discrediting the results of the elections of Mr. Trump. I also think that they have an interest in discrediting the results of the Brexit because many European countries are also having the same questions about globalization and mass immigration. A lot of people will want to follow the example that the UK has just set.”

Chagnon does not rule out that in the case of failure at the elections some European politicians could play Russian card to justify it.

“I think the establishment will try to use any excuse to blame outside factors except look at themselves. They will try to find a scapegoat,” she said, adding that in fact, they “have no one else to blame for the failure of the elections, but themselves.”

“It was really globalization and mass immigration, which were at the core of this dissatisfaction of many people, who have found that the establishment is not defending their interests,” she added.

Regarding the public mood in Europe over the US hacking scandal, Chagnon said that the majority of people do not care.

“It is a total non-event in France, to be telling you the truth… People are not interested. I have heard comments from people who have asked: what do you think about this? They said: “Listen, really, is America in a position to be lecturing anybody about interfering in domestic policies in their home countries? Go away!” But the media here is very, very silent about it. What the media is interested in is what Mr. Trump is going to do after the 20th [of January] – after he will be sworn in as a President of the US, and what the impact will be for France and for the people in France – that is what people are interested in,” she explained.

FBI denied access to hacked DNC servers - ‘shocking’

It is shocking that the FBI was denied access to the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) servers given the international situation of great importance, Jeffrey Carr, cybersecurity expert, told RT.

RT: You've advised governments on Russian and Chinese cyber warfare. What do you make of the information presented by the US intelligence as proof of the Russian government's involvement in hacking the Democratic Party?

Jeffrey Carr: There hasn’t really been any proof that the Russian government was directly involved. There is only some proof that Russian-speaking hackers were involved in parts of these attacks. But there is no prove that a Russian intelligence service had any hand in it. That is a pure speculation. 

RT: We have also heard a number of US intelligence veterans claiming it was, in fact, an inside leak and not a hack because there is no electronic trail. Do you share that opinion?

JK: I have heard – Bill Binney I believe expressed that opinion, I think that is a valid opinion. There should be - considering the scale and scope of NSA surveillance - a trail of how the information was received by WikiLeaks. That is curious – that has not been forthcoming.

In fact, it is certainly possible that these are independent actions. So the people who were responsible for hacking into the DNC do not have to be the same people that also gave information to WikiLeaks, nor would there have to be the same people that probed election databases in different states. We really don’t know who was responsible.

RT: The DNC denied the FBI access to its servers, despite multiple requests. The Democrats were the first to accuse Russia of hacking. Shouldn't they be ready to cooperate when it comes to providing evidence?

JK: They should. I was actually quite shocked when I heard that the FBI was denied access to their servers. This now involves an international situation of great importance. And to deny the FBI access to their server – I frankly find that incomprehensible.